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Do you people get all your diabetes stuff for nothing?

Diakat said:
And there are many who seem to have no healthcare. American (and Canadian) patients have been on here saying they cannot afford insulin.

The NHS is far from perfect but mostly comes through.
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In Canada in the province I am in if you have medications prescribed by a GP and are low income there are government services that will aid you.
 
So your income tax is 42%. Our is more like 25% including state tax. Our 'National insurance" is 10%. Our VAT is 8%. I would gladly up the National insurance tax to 12% if we could get Medicare health insurance which is pretty good insurance.
 
Hotpepper20000 said:
In Canada in the province I am in if you have medications prescribed by a GP and are low income there are government services that will aid you.
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Is that the case for all provinces? Just checking as I seem to recall they differ.
 
And to think I nearly moved to America to study then possible work as a lawyer in Nabraska. Thank god I didn't!
 

Don't forget they are also free for the over 60's like me! Shame I'm not on any medication!

Diabetics also get free annual eyesight tests and free retinal screening. ( I understand the free eyesight tests are now going to be every 2 years)

We moan to high heaven about the NHS but really we shouldn't. Free at the point of delivery, and think of all the millions and billions of pounds spent on cancer treatments and every other chronic illness. Have a stroke or a heart attack, and no worries about if we can pay the bills or not. Break a leg .... sorted. Serious road traffic accident .... sorted.
 

No, they don't. Only those who qualify get free eye tests.

https://www.specsavers.co.uk/glasses/nhs-eye-test
 
I Googled up the pay for a starting NHS GP. Says $85k which is pretty low compared to here. Even here at the VA working for the government they start at around $130k I think. Your NHS might have some trouble employing doctors which may explain why nurses do a lot of the heavy lifting for diabetics.
 
mahola said:
They're free at Tesco! Despite the adverts, I will never got to Specsavers

They are also free at our local independent opticians for everyone.
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I never go to Specsavers either. I use a local independent. That Specsavers page was the first one up on Google.

I'm sure some places do offer them for free, but the NHS isn't paying, the supermarket/optician is.
 
As a T2 and a member ot the NDSS, I get subsidised testing strips at $1.30 per 100. I pay what ever the going price for Accu-Chek lancets which are < $10.00 a box of four. Testing meters are free if you look around.

I have a federal government concession card that give me prescription medication at $6.30 per item. After sixty scripts I hit the safety net, and then get all of my medication including the strips free for the rest of the year.

I pay a fair amount of money to a private health insurance fund each year.

I have a Medicare health care plan that gives me five free visits to a podiatrist.

Free eye tests from a optometrist of my choice, new glasses cost extra, unless you get the free **** from the Qld Health service.

My diabetic educator bulk bills Medicare for my visits, so that costs me nothing.

Edit: Clarity.
 
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mahola said:
They're free at Tesco! Despite the adverts, I will never got to Specsavers

They are also free at our local independent opticians for everyone.
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where are you? I have yet to find anywhere which offers free eye tests. What sort of eye tests are they offering for free? Is it a complete standard eye test?
 
serenity648 said:
where are you? I have yet to find anywhere which offers free eye tests. What sort of eye tests are they offering for free? Is it a complete standard eye test?
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Usually the "free" eye tests are in places that pimp eyeglasses and they test your vision only. No looking for retinopathy or glaucoma. they do 'em at Walmart here. They wanna sell ya some specs!
 
There's no such thing as a free lunch (well for most at least).

I guess in theory prescriptions on the NHS for most diabetes related stuff are 'free' - but as anyone that works pays into the system they aren't free in that respect. As my dad (who incidentally hardly ever goes to see a doctor and worked for 50 years paying tax into the 'system') regularly points out.
Though I certainly appreciated my 'free' prescriptions whilst at college and uni etc.

The eye exam is included in that - but the eyesight test wasn't. As I found out when I got blagged once by the optician and had to pay to not be able to read anything below the 3rd line u p a y n o w s c r e w u

In Spain as a UK citizen (whilst it remains part of the EU at least) I have the same rights as a Spanish citizen where I pay for stuff with a prescription from a doctor at a massively reduced rate (around 90%). Needless to say getting a prescription made a big difference - as I found out when I first went to a pharmacy to ask about insulin and they said it's 80e for a months supply :-o I Obviously registering with a medical centre and getting a prescription for 8e was much preferable.
 
@TheBigNewt - I think it's worth pointing out that National Insurance is NOT 12% of your entire earnings. There is a scale that works as follows:
  • If you earn between £0 and £680 per month - you pay 0%
  • If you earn between £680 and £3,750 per month - you pay 12%
  • If you earn more than £3,750 per month - all earnings over the threshold are charged at 2%
So a person earning a higher wage (let's say £120,000 per year because it's easy), pays £575 per month, or a national insurance rate of 5.75%.
 
I'd watch your tone @TheBigNewt; your question came cross quite rude and abrupt but I'm sure that's not the case.

To answer your question, no. We pay taxes which contribute to our health care. And for a lot of us, the amount of tax we pay is more than what we'd pay for insurance in the States - for less options (harder access to pumps, etc). So believe me when I say, it's far from free in the UK - we just have a good system that caters for the less fortunate right through to the wealthy.
 
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I am horrified that people have to pay directly for diabetic meds and equipment. Granted, we pay for it through National Insurance in the UK but those who are unemployed, or unable to work and contribute, get their NI paid for them and prescriptions for free. Diabetics are exempt from the prescription charge, too.

I see on social media that many people are distressed at the cost of insulin alone. Paying up to $1000 per month just to STAY ALIVE! and stories of people falling seriously ill or even dying are circulating, simply because they cannot afford their insulin. It's outrageous and heartbreaking in equal measure.
 
Thanks. So they in effect cap it at $45,000, at least the high 12% tax part. Our Medicare tax (4%) is not capped, but Social Security (6%) is capped at about $110,000/year, much higher than yours. That's a hefty tax on someone who only makes $8,160/yr. Here anyone making 133% of the poverty level (about $18k/yr) gets Medicaid for health insurance at least in most states.
 
DiabeticDadUK said:
I am horrified that people have to pay directly for diabetic meds and equipment.
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Welcome to the world of T2 in the UK. Most of us have to pay for meters and test strips ourselves and we pay NI just like everyone else. Prescription charges are only free to T2s in England if we are prescribed diabetes meds, so if we look after ourselves and manage without drugs then we still have to pay a prescription charge for anti-biotics etc. when we need them.
 

This could open a WHOLE can of worms about who should pay for what. I'm very much in the "Contribute if you can" camp and if you can't through no fault of your own then you should get your meds for free.
 
If everyone participates in your NI gets their diabetic meds gratis how is it someone would be expected to pay $1000/month for their insulin? That stuff happens here for those without health insurance (like me for 25 years). Actually I probably paid more like. $120/month without insurance, and that's about what I pay now WITH insurance as it turns out.
 
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